The periodicity and recurrence of lunar (and solar) eclipses is governed by the Saros cycle, a period of approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours). When two eclipses are separated by a period of one Saros, they share a very similar geometry. The two eclipses occur at the same node[1] with the Moon at nearly the same distance from Earth and at the same time of year. Thus, the Saros is useful for organizing eclipses into families or series. Each series typically lasts 12 to 15 centuries and contains 70 or more lunar eclipses.
Lunar eclipses of Saros 37 all occur at the Moon’s descending node and the Moon moves northward with each eclipse. The series began with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on -1492 Apr 03. The series ended with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on -0212 May 10. The total duration of Saros series 37 is 1280.14 years. In summary:
First Eclipse = -1492 Apr 03 16:52:15 TD
Last Eclipse = -0212 May 10 23:00:42 TD
Duration of Saros 37 = 1280.14 Years
Saros 37 is composed of 72 lunar eclipses as follows:
| Lunar Eclipses of Saros 37 | |||
| Eclipse Type | Symbol | Number | Percent |
| All Eclipses | - | 72 | 100.0% |
| Penumbral | N | 17 | 23.6% |
| Partial | P | 43 | 59.7% |
| Total | T | 12 | 16.7% |
The 72 lunar eclipses in Saros 37 occur in the order of 8N 24P 12T 19P 9N which corresponds to:
8 Penumbral
24 Partial
12 Total
19 Partial
9 Penumbral
The longest and shortest eclipses of Saros 37 are as follows.
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0807 May 19 Duration = 01h44m59s
Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse: -0717 Jul 13 Duration = 00h14m38s
Longest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0933 Mar 05 Duration = 03h20m05s
Shortest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0374 Feb 03 Duration = 00h48m43s
Longest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -0356 Feb 14 Duration = 04h51m18s
Shortest Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: -1492 Apr 03 Duration = 00h37m38s
The largest and smallest magnitude partial eclipses of Saros 37 are:
Largest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0933 Mar 05 Magnitude = 0.9858
Smallest Partial Lunar Eclipse: -0374 Feb 03 Magnitude = 0.0393
Local circumstances at greatest eclipse[2] for every lunar eclipse of Saros 37 are presented in the following catalog. For eclipses occurring between the years -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE), the sequence number in the first column links to a eclipse geometry diagram and a map from Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. A detailed key and additional information about the catalog can be found at: Key to Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series.
TD of Phase
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Pen. Um. ---- Durations ----
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num Type QSE Gamma Mag. Mag. Pen. Par. Total
s m m m
01 -38 -1492 Apr 03 16:52:15 34923 -43188 Nb a- -1.5316 0.0199 -0.9253 37.6 - -
02 -37 -1474 Apr 15 00:24:55 34543 -42965 N a- -1.4689 0.1345 -0.8099 96.9 - -
03 -36 -1456 Apr 25 07:52:24 34166 -42742 N a- -1.4022 0.2568 -0.6872 132.6 - -
04 -35 -1438 May 06 15:16:54 33791 -42519 N a- -1.3332 0.3835 -0.5608 160.3 - -
05 -34 -1420 May 16 22:39:01 33417 -42296 N a- -1.2628 0.5133 -0.4321 183.5 - -
06 -33 -1402 May 28 05:59:06 33046 -42073 N a- -1.1910 0.6460 -0.3012 203.6 - -
07 -32 -1384 Jun 07 13:19:54 32677 -41850 N a- -1.1200 0.7773 -0.1723 220.9 - -
08 -31 -1366 Jun 18 20:41:50 32310 -41627 N a- -1.0508 0.9060 -0.0466 235.9 - -
09 -30 -1348 Jun 29 04:07:11 31945 -41404 P a- -0.9846 1.0293 0.0730 248.9 59.1 -
10 -29 -1330 Jul 10 11:35:12 31582 -41181 P a- -0.9212 1.1477 0.1871 260.3 93.3 -
11 -28 -1312 Jul 20 19:09:34 31221 -40958 P a- -0.8638 1.2555 0.2901 269.9 114.7 -
12 -27 -1294 Aug 01 02:49:12 30862 -40735 P a- -0.8113 1.3543 0.3838 278.2 130.5 -
13 -26 -1276 Aug 11 10:36:01 30506 -40512 P a- -0.7653 1.4415 0.4655 285.2 142.3 -
14 -25 -1258 Aug 22 18:29:17 30151 -40289 P a- -0.7252 1.5180 0.5362 291.1 151.4 -
15 -24 -1240 Sep 02 02:31:01 29798 -40066 P a- -0.6928 1.5804 0.5929 296.0 158.1 -
16 -23 -1222 Sep 13 10:40:01 29448 -39843 P a- -0.6672 1.6304 0.6370 300.1 163.2 -
17 -22 -1204 Sep 23 18:55:38 29100 -39620 P a- -0.6478 1.6688 0.6698 303.4 166.8 -
18 -21 -1186 Oct 05 03:18:40 28753 -39397 P a- -0.6351 1.6948 0.6904 306.0 169.2 -
19 -20 -1168 Oct 15 11:47:13 28409 -39174 P a- -0.6275 1.7113 0.7018 308.1 170.7 -
20 -19 -1150 Oct 26 20:20:47 28067 -38951 P a- -0.6250 1.7182 0.7040 309.7 171.4 -
21 -18 -1132 Nov 06 04:56:00 27727 -38728 P a- -0.6246 1.7211 0.7028 311.1 171.7 -
22 -17 -1114 Nov 17 13:34:02 27389 -38505 P a- -0.6274 1.7178 0.6960 312.1 171.6 -
23 -16 -1096 Nov 27 22:11:08 27053 -38282 P a- -0.6298 1.7148 0.6901 313.0 171.5 -
24 -15 -1078 Dec 09 06:46:41 26719 -38059 P a- -0.6318 1.7122 0.6852 314.0 171.5 -
25 -14 -1060 Dec 19 15:17:49 26387 -37836 P a- -0.6308 1.7150 0.6862 315.2 172.1 -
26 -13 -1042 Dec 30 23:44:18 26057 -37613 P a- -0.6266 1.7233 0.6932 316.7 173.3 -
27 -12 -1023 Jan 10 08:03:23 25729 -37390 P a- -0.6172 1.7411 0.7102 318.7 175.4 -
28 -11 -1005 Jan 21 16:14:29 25404 -37167 P a- -0.6017 1.7696 0.7382 321.2 178.6 -
29 -10 -0987 Feb 01 00:16:18 25080 -36944 P a- -0.5793 1.8109 0.7793 324.3 182.8 -
30 -09 -0969 Feb 12 08:08:53 24759 -36721 P h- -0.5499 1.8649 0.8332 327.9 187.8 -
31 -08 -0951 Feb 22 15:49:57 24439 -36498 P t- -0.5119 1.9347 0.9030 332.1 193.8 -
32 -07 -0933 Mar 05 23:21:26 24122 -36275 P t- -0.4667 2.0176 0.9858 336.5 200.1 -
33 -06 -0915 Mar 16 06:41:42 23807 -36052 T t- -0.4133 2.1158 1.0838 341.2 206.6 45.1
34 -05 -0897 Mar 27 13:53:39 23493 -35829 T p- -0.3535 2.2257 1.1932 345.8 212.9 66.3
35 -04 -0879 Apr 06 20:53:51 23182 -35606 T pp -0.2851 2.3516 1.3183 350.2 218.8 81.7
36 -03 -0861 Apr 18 03:48:10 22873 -35383 T- pp -0.2128 2.4849 1.4505 354.2 223.7 92.6
37 -02 -0843 Apr 28 10:33:26 22566 -35160 T- pp -0.1341 2.6300 1.5940 357.5 227.5 100.2
38 -01 -0825 May 09 17:15:05 22261 -34937 T- pp -0.0532 2.7795 1.7415 359.9 229.9 104.3
39 00 -0807 May 19 23:50:05 21959 -34714 T+ pp 0.0322 2.8193 1.7787 361.4 230.7 105.0
40 01 -0789 May 31 06:24:46 21658 -34491 T+ pp 0.1171 2.6651 1.6216 361.9 229.8 101.9
TD of Phase
Seq. Rel. Calendar Greatest Luna Ecl. Pen. Um. ---- Durations ----
Num. Num. Date Eclipse ΔT Num Type QSE Gamma Mag. Mag. Pen. Par. Total
s m m m
41 02 -0771 Jun 10 12:56:32 21359 -34268 T+ pp 0.2031 2.5089 1.4619 361.2 227.1 94.4
42 03 -0753 Jun 21 19:29:40 21062 -34045 T -t 0.2873 2.3564 1.3057 359.5 222.6 81.8
43 04 -0735 Jul 02 02:03:55 20768 -33822 T -t 0.3697 2.2073 1.1523 356.8 216.3 61.0
44 05 -0717 Jul 13 08:43:05 20475 -33599 T -t 0.4471 2.0675 1.0080 353.3 208.5 14.6
45 06 -0699 Jul 23 15:26:44 20185 -33376 P -t 0.5202 1.9359 0.8715 349.1 199.2 -
46 07 -0681 Aug 03 22:16:33 19897 -33153 P -t 0.5874 1.8152 0.7457 344.5 188.7 -
47 08 -0663 Aug 14 05:13:56 19610 -32930 P -t 0.6475 1.7075 0.6328 339.7 177.5 -
48 09 -0645 Aug 25 12:19:19 19326 -32707 P -t 0.7004 1.6131 0.5333 334.9 165.9 -
49 10 -0627 Sep 04 19:32:58 19044 -32484 P -t 0.7459 1.5320 0.4472 330.5 154.2 -
50 11 -0609 Sep 16 02:55:10 18764 -32261 P -t 0.7839 1.4647 0.3752 326.5 143.0 -
51 12 -0591 Sep 26 10:26:19 18486 -32038 P -t 0.8141 1.4115 0.3175 323.2 132.9 -
52 13 -0573 Oct 07 18:05:34 18210 -31815 P -t 0.8372 1.3712 0.2733 320.6 124.2 -
53 14 -0555 Oct 18 01:51:10 17936 -31592 P -t 0.8547 1.3407 0.2394 318.6 116.9 -
54 15 -0537 Oct 29 09:43:55 17665 -31369 P -t 0.8663 1.3209 0.2169 317.4 111.7 -
55 16 -0519 Nov 08 17:41:07 17395 -31146 P -t 0.8742 1.3074 0.2014 316.5 108.0 -
56 17 -0501 Nov 20 01:41:38 17127 -30923 P -t 0.8791 1.2989 0.1918 315.9 105.5 -
57 18 -0483 Nov 30 09:42:28 16808 -30700 P -t 0.8837 1.2906 0.1831 315.3 103.3 -
58 19 -0465 Dec 11 17:43:49 16497 -30477 P -t 0.8880 1.2824 0.1756 314.5 101.2 -
59 20 -0447 Dec 22 01:42:47 16195 -30254 P -t 0.8946 1.2697 0.1642 313.2 98.0 -
60 21 -0428 Jan 02 09:37:20 15901 -30031 P -t 0.9047 1.2500 0.1467 311.2 92.9 -
61 22 -0410 Jan 12 17:26:31 15614 -29808 P -t 0.9193 1.2219 0.1214 308.3 84.7 -
62 23 -0392 Jan 24 01:08:40 15335 -29585 P -t 0.9397 1.1826 0.0857 304.1 71.5 -
63 24 -0374 Feb 03 08:43:36 15063 -29362 P -t 0.9660 1.1323 0.0393 298.6 48.7 -
64 25 -0356 Feb 14 16:09:01 14798 -29139 Nx -t 1.0003 1.0672 -0.0214 291.3 - -
65 26 -0338 Feb 24 23:26:47 14538 -28916 N -t 1.0410 0.9902 -0.0937 282.2 - -
66 27 -0320 Mar 07 06:35:02 14285 -28693 N -t 1.0892 0.8992 -0.1798 270.8 - -
67 28 -0302 Mar 18 13:35:10 14037 -28470 N -t 1.1441 0.7959 -0.2782 256.7 - -
68 29 -0284 Mar 28 20:27:03 13794 -28247 N -t 1.2057 0.6804 -0.3888 239.4 - -
69 30 -0266 Apr 09 03:12:33 13557 -28024 N -t 1.2725 0.5555 -0.5090 218.3 - -
70 31 -0248 Apr 19 09:52:45 13325 -27801 N -t 1.3438 0.4224 -0.6376 192.2 - -
71 32 -0230 Apr 30 16:27:36 13097 -27578 N -t 1.4194 0.2815 -0.7743 158.4 - -
72 33 -0212 May 10 23:00:42 12874 -27355 N -t 1.4965 0.1382 -0.9137 112.1 - -
[1] The Moon's orbit is inclined about 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. The points where the lunar orbit intersects the plane of Earth's orbit are known as the nodes. The Moon moves from south to north of Earth's orbit at the ascending node, and from north to south at the descending node.
[2]Greatest eclipse is defined as the instant when Moon passes closest to the axis of Earth's shadow.
The Gregorian calendar is used for all dates from 1582 Oct 15 onwards. Before that date, the Julian calendar is used. For more information on this topic, see Calendar Dates. The Julian calendar does not include the year 0. Thus the year 1 BCE is followed by the year 1 CE (See: BCE/CE Dating Conventions ). This is awkward for arithmetic calculations. Years in this catalog are numbered astronomically and include the year 0. Historians should note there is a difference of one year between astronomical dates and BCE dates. Thus, the astronomical year 0 corresponds to 1 BCE, and astronomical year -1 corresponds to 2 BCE, etc..
The coordinates of the Sun used in these predictions are based on the VSOP87 theory [Bretagnon and Francou, 1988]. The Moon's coordinates are based on the ELP-2000/82 theory [Chapront-Touze and Chapront, 1983]. For more information, see: Solar and Lunar Ephemerides. The revised value used for the Moon's secular acceleration is n-dot = -25.858 arc-sec/cy*cy, as deduced from the Apollo lunar laser ranging experiment (Chapront, Chapront-Touze, and Francou, 2002).
The largest uncertainty in the eclipse predictions is caused by fluctuations in Earth's rotation due primarily to tidal friction of the Moon. The resultant drift in apparent clock time is expressed as ΔT and is determined as follows:
A series of polynomial expressions have been derived to simplify the evaluation of ΔT for any time from -1999 to +3000. The uncertainty in ΔT over this period can be estimated from scatter in the measurements.
The Besselian elements used in the predictions were kindly provided by Jean Meeus. All eclipse calculations are by Fred Espenak, and he assumes full responsibility for their accuracy. Some of the information presented on this web site is based on data originally published in Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 and Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:
"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus (NASA's GSFC)"
